Starcraft II Single Player Mini Review

Some of you know that I got Starcraft II for my birthday. I had been one of those folks that had been waiting around 12 years to play the game. I have loved all of the products that have come from Blizzard Entertainment, and have always been amazed with the level of detail and quality that their games bring.

Starcraft II is no different.

I'm about 60% through the single player mode as I write this, having finally gotten the chance to get Siege Tanks, skipping obtaining the Vulture as long as possible, and upgrading my units as I see fit.

Starcraft II brings all the classic storyline along with it, and then some. The "choose your own adventure" style of Starcraft II makes its storyline epic, and the single player mode fun as hell. You're Jim Raynor, hero of the first series, surrounded by your band of outlaws (terrorists) as you fight for freedom from your Terran overlords...while encountering the Zerg and Protoss, who really aren't happy about the crap you pull.

The missions in Starcraft II are a fresh take compared to the first Starcraft. Yes, you need to run around, hold off enemies, do some stupid things like the first one that will annoy the hell out of you, but the new missions, particularly the "zombie zerg" mission where you need to destroy infected Terran structures by day and then get back to your base and defend by night (as a load of zombie zerg terrans keep pounding your base) is one of the best missions I've played in a while.

I'm playing on normal difficulty...which seems to be a problem. It isn't a challenge, I haven't had a redo yet. I'm sure I'll screw a couple missions up towards the end, but this is almost ridiculous. Basically plowing through missions is fun the first couple of times, but if there is no real risk of failure, what's the point in playing the game, right?

Graphically the cut scenes and interaction menus are stunning. If you have a good graphics card, this is where the game really stands out. It makes you wish they'd make a movie out of it! Gameplay, however, is where I really think they took a step backward. It makes me feel like I'm playing World of Warcraft but in Starcraft mode. This doesn't do it for me at all. It worked fine when Warcraft III was released, but I expect a futuristic, technologically advanced game like this to look like that. Or at least more "human" or "realistic". I understand the cartooniness of the game allows for lesser computers to play it, but in some areas, I think the design of some buildings and ships is inferior to the original Starcraft. It's like originally playing with a Tonka truck and instead now playing with Duplo blocks.

All the little things, like the hiring of mercenaries, Zerg and Protoss upgrades to Terran units and twisting storylines definitely make this game a winner. But it COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER. Of course, I'm a pretty avid fan, so that's how I feel.

I still give it a B so far, and will get many years of gameplay out of it.